Merrill announces run for secretary of state

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 4:04 PM

State Rep. John Merrill, R-Tuscaloosa, made official Tuesday what he has been talking about for months. He is running for Alabama secretary of state. Merrill, a 49-year-old first-term legislator, announced his candidacy at the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, telling supporters that he has had an interest in the office for a long time — 35 years to be exact.

By Patrick RupinskiBusiness Editor

TUSCALOOSA | State Rep. John Merrill, R-Tuscaloosa, made official Tuesday what he has been talking about for months. He is running for Alabama secretary of state.Merrill, a 49-year-old first-term legislator, announced his candidacy at the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, telling supporters that he has had an interest in the office for a long time — 35 years to be exact.“I often thought about this office since I was 14 years old,” he said.At that time, he accompanied his father, who then was probate judge in Cleburne County, to a political rally where he heard a young Don Siegelman, who was running for his first state elective office — secretary of state.Merrill said he asked his father what were the secretary of state’s duties and learned the office handled elections, various business registrations, adoptions and filings of official records.“I said that is something I might be interested in doing someday, and I started to watch and learn about that office,” he said.The incumbent secretary of state, Beth Chapman, is completing her second four-year term, and is barred by the state constitution from running for a third consecutive firm in 2014.Merrill, who praised Chapman, said he met with her as well as Gov. Robert Bentley, Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey and other statewide elected officials to discuss his candidacy. All were encouraging and supportive, he said.While none of the statewide officeholders have endorsed him, he said he would be surprised if any endorsed anyone else in next year’s Republican primary.Merrill said 66 state House members have committed to back him in the race. “I guess they either want me to be secretary of state or want me out of the Legislature, he said, laughing.